Many people believe that arthritis is simply a “wear and tear“ disease. If that were true, then the best way to prevent arthritis would be to minimize the amount of exercise and physical activity that the joints undergo. In reality, however, research suggests that exercise is an extremely important step towards preventing arthritis.
In order to further investigate this, a new study examined rats with collagen-induced arthritis. The researchers found that in the rats who were not able to exercise, the collagen-induced arthritis induced synovial membrane invasion, articular cartilage destruction, and bone erosion. Amazingly, the rats who engaged in treadmill running saw significantly less of these negative effects.
One possible reason the treadmill running may have decreased the arthritic progression may have been due to the anti-inflammatory benefits. The rats who did not run on the treadmill exhibited significantly elevated levels of tnfA and Connexin 43, while the production of these inflammatory compounds was significantly suppressed in the rats who ran on the treadmill.
Conclusions
This study adds to the growing body of evidence that arthritis is not simply a “wear and tear“ disease and instead is a result of aberrant tissue remodeling. Although any individuals with arthritis may be inclined to avoid exercising their affected joints, properly loading the joint may be one of the most important strategies for maintaining joint health.
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